Greig’s final status conference deemed ‘unnecessary’

The discovery problems plaguing the James “Whitey” Bulger case don’t seem to be creating any issues in the prosecution of his girlfriend, Catherine Greig.

On the eve of a final status conference scheduled for Feb. 16, the lawyers have told U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock that things are going just fine. So well, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack W. Pirozzolo and Brockton defense lawyer Kevin M. Reddington said in a recent filing, that tomorrow’s proceeding is “unnecessary” and has been cancelled.

“The United States expects that it will produce additional materials [to Reddington], but that the additional materials will be relatively small in quantity,” Pirozzolo wrote. “So far, the parties have had no disputes over the scope of discovery, and do not anticipate any.”

The same cannot be said in the Bulger case, which recently received a Nov. 5 trial date, over the objection of defense attorney J.W. Carney Jr.

On Feb. 13, Carney and co-counsel Henry B. Brennan told U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler there was no way they could possibly be ready in such a short time.

Unlike the Greig case, which involves a far smaller time window, the Bulger matter spans three decades, and to date has resulted in over 580,000 pages of discovery along with 921 wiretap tapes.

Greig is charged with harboring a fugitive for allegedly helping Bulger remain on the lam.

Jury empanelment in her case is scheduled for May 7.

The lawyers have told the judge they anticipate the case will take 15 days to try.

The parties will next appear in front of Woodlock on March 1.

If convicted, Greig faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.